[obol] A matter of perception

[DAVID IRONS]

Greetings All,

Hannah Fritz writes:  
"We never could complain about Robins that they're greedy bullies at the feeder that eat all
the suet and chase the other birds away, as you can with Starlings."

I always find it interesting when people assign human qualities to birds and other wild creatures and then apply selective observations, biased by their own likes and dislikes to a certain species.  In the grand scheme of thingsStarlings are no more "bullies" than any other bird species.  If you make any effort to watch a group of feeding birds youwill see dozens of small battles over space, morsels of food, and strategic perches.  As an example, find a thistle feeder that is being attended by more goldfinches or siskins than there are feeding rungs. The term "pecking order"becomes crystal clear.  Nowhere is life more dicey than the local hummingbird feeder.  You want to talk bullies?  ARufous Hummingbird will take your lunch money. It's a jungle out there folks, and the weak don't eat.Greed is strictly a human construct. It implies that one wants or desires more than they need or deserve. I don't knowabout you, but I've never seen a fat Starling, which suggests to me that they are only consuming what they need to thrive.
Like them or not, these birds are doing what they are hard-wired to do.  The aren't pondering outcomes, measuring their worth 
against that of other bird species and acting on those judgments (birds don't make judgments). They are just trying to survive.

The fact that they are here "unnaturally" may annoy you. If this is the case, then I would look in the mirror because it is your species
and not theirs that brought them here.  As is often the case, populations of the introduced species grow unchecked, usurp habitat
and breeding niches (certainly the case with Starlings).  I find it irritating that Starlings usurp nest boxes and holes from native 
cavity nesters like swallows and bluebirds in the same way that I find it irritating that introduced moffiti Canada Geese usurp Osprey nests
in the Willamette Valley.  However, I don't blame the birds, I blame the knucklehead humans who misplaced them on the landscape 
in the first place.

Back to our old friend the Robin.  They aren't pacifists either.  Have you ever had one spend half a day bouncing off one of the windows
of you house after seeing its own reflection and thinking another Robin was in its territory.  They are apparently aggressive and not very quick on the uptake.
I've spent many hours the past few days birding Skinner Butte.  The most aggressive birds up there were the Robins chasing each other around as 
they defend territories and nest sites.

Dave Irons
Eugene, OR
 
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